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There's this thing I do...
May. 13th, 2025 03:37 pm...well, actually there's loads of things I do and some of them are quite annoying, even for me!
But on this occasion, I'm talking about my glass. Yes yes! That fing what I does when it's all about the shiny-stuff-making activities!
Well. Here's the thing. I just linked my website to this 'ere place, so I thought I'd best sort of...mention glass a bit more, maybe? I mean, it wong be the only thing I babble on about. I'm one of these new fangled human things with slightly more complexities and so on than your regular houseplant. Except possibly clematis. Those things are TOUCHY. Or they just don't like me. I mean, could be either. But I digress.
So yeah. I make shiny stuff. And yes, amazing as it is to me, my accountant, and probably my mother, I actually sell it sometimes, too! I do that over there on https://glassywitch.uk. And also at a couple of places, my absolute favourite being Maker's Barn at Petworth. Rosie is amazing.
So, with that in mind here's what I made on Sunday:
I get asked sometimes about my "handmade" claim. And...yes. I can understand why I do.
You see, those frames that I use come in cardboard boxes stamped with "Made in China " all over them. Because they are. So, no. I don't make the frames, I'm afraid. I'd LOVE to use the fellow down the road who does BRILLIANT framing - but then I'd have to pass on the costs and his work is GOOD, so it has a price commensurate with his skill. And I doubt anyone wants to be paying the extra 120 quid on top. I mean. *I* would, and indeed have had him reframe things because he's that good. But I recognise that it's not really something I should impose on other people.
And then there's those murrini (murrini, for the uninitiated, are coloured glass canes that get chopped up for use on things like this). So, the foxglove flowers, the poppies, ivy leaves, and the wheat ears are all murrini created by the endlessly fabulous Tabitha out in Croatia. So no, I didn't make those. I arranged them on the piece, but didn't make them.
The freeze and fuse. I made those. Well. Some of them. Most of the moulds though, I didn't make. And the moulds I DID make? I took impressions from small toys, brooches, pieces of jewellery, button, pin badges...so...DID I make those?
Oh,and no, I didn't make the lantern bodies, either. Most of them come from Ikea, or The Range. I think probably made in China too. I mean sure, we have a forge. But I'm not sure that anyone wants ot needs a lantern that weighs 48 kilos because it's been made of mild steel. Ahhh, the curse of the blacksmith. Able to make anything except a profit ;)
And then the glass. Nope. I didn't make that, either. Not the sheet glass, not the powdered glass, and not the frit (4.30pm the crushed glass which is more coarse than a powder). All made by a company called Bullseye. I didn't build the kiln, or make the kiln paper, or the kiln furniture. I didn't power the kiln - the solar panels (which I also didn’t make) did that.
Yet, I stand by my claim of handmade just the same. Because I have to have the idea and then put the pieces together in the hope of making that idea real. Then I have to decide on a firing schedule which will hopefully result in the outcome I want. And sometimes, it doesn't work out. Sometimes the annealing is wrong, and the piece suffers an unscheduled rapid dissembly. Or the soak time was too long and the temperature too high and it turns into a shapeless puddle. That's all on me and the choices I make when I am making a piece and programming the kiln to cook it.
But no. I don't make the frames, the lantern bodies or the sheet glass. But I hope you don't mind if I go on saying it's hand made all the same? ;)
But on this occasion, I'm talking about my glass. Yes yes! That fing what I does when it's all about the shiny-stuff-making activities!
Well. Here's the thing. I just linked my website to this 'ere place, so I thought I'd best sort of...mention glass a bit more, maybe? I mean, it wong be the only thing I babble on about. I'm one of these new fangled human things with slightly more complexities and so on than your regular houseplant. Except possibly clematis. Those things are TOUCHY. Or they just don't like me. I mean, could be either. But I digress.
So yeah. I make shiny stuff. And yes, amazing as it is to me, my accountant, and probably my mother, I actually sell it sometimes, too! I do that over there on https://glassywitch.uk. And also at a couple of places, my absolute favourite being Maker's Barn at Petworth. Rosie is amazing.
So, with that in mind here's what I made on Sunday:
I get asked sometimes about my "handmade" claim. And...yes. I can understand why I do.
You see, those frames that I use come in cardboard boxes stamped with "Made in China " all over them. Because they are. So, no. I don't make the frames, I'm afraid. I'd LOVE to use the fellow down the road who does BRILLIANT framing - but then I'd have to pass on the costs and his work is GOOD, so it has a price commensurate with his skill. And I doubt anyone wants to be paying the extra 120 quid on top. I mean. *I* would, and indeed have had him reframe things because he's that good. But I recognise that it's not really something I should impose on other people.
And then there's those murrini (murrini, for the uninitiated, are coloured glass canes that get chopped up for use on things like this). So, the foxglove flowers, the poppies, ivy leaves, and the wheat ears are all murrini created by the endlessly fabulous Tabitha out in Croatia. So no, I didn't make those. I arranged them on the piece, but didn't make them.
The freeze and fuse. I made those. Well. Some of them. Most of the moulds though, I didn't make. And the moulds I DID make? I took impressions from small toys, brooches, pieces of jewellery, button, pin badges...so...DID I make those?
Oh,and no, I didn't make the lantern bodies, either. Most of them come from Ikea, or The Range. I think probably made in China too. I mean sure, we have a forge. But I'm not sure that anyone wants ot needs a lantern that weighs 48 kilos because it's been made of mild steel. Ahhh, the curse of the blacksmith. Able to make anything except a profit ;)
And then the glass. Nope. I didn't make that, either. Not the sheet glass, not the powdered glass, and not the frit (4.30pm the crushed glass which is more coarse than a powder). All made by a company called Bullseye. I didn't build the kiln, or make the kiln paper, or the kiln furniture. I didn't power the kiln - the solar panels (which I also didn’t make) did that.
Yet, I stand by my claim of handmade just the same. Because I have to have the idea and then put the pieces together in the hope of making that idea real. Then I have to decide on a firing schedule which will hopefully result in the outcome I want. And sometimes, it doesn't work out. Sometimes the annealing is wrong, and the piece suffers an unscheduled rapid dissembly. Or the soak time was too long and the temperature too high and it turns into a shapeless puddle. That's all on me and the choices I make when I am making a piece and programming the kiln to cook it.
But no. I don't make the frames, the lantern bodies or the sheet glass. But I hope you don't mind if I go on saying it's hand made all the same? ;)